I attended a training on Participatory Facilitation and Art of Hosting in Athens, Greece in April 2015. I was one of a handful of Canadians there amongst 25 Greeks and another handful of Europeans who travelled from outside of Greece. During the week we spent together, we focused on one calling question "As citizens, leaders and professionals, what are the ways of working that will allow us to collaboratively address the challenges in our cities, communities, organizations and society?" As we moved through dialogue around this question, the Greek participants began to share their pain, suffering, angst, sadness, and betrayal of the financial and societal state of their motherland, their home, their ancestry and the way that European media reflected them. They watched their motherland crumble and deteriorate right before their eyes as their fellow Greeks were either seen picking leftover food out of dumpsters or working for the government, turning their backs on the people, fellow citizens, people who shared the same deeply meaningful language, ate the same fresh fruits and vegetables from the soil, the Aegean sea, and shared an ancestry that birthed democracy. In my role as a witness, i listened, i heard, i felt them, i understood them, i empathized, i hurt too, i cried too, i offered my whole self to being present to them as they felt comfortable and safe enough to pour out their sorrow. This is where the Greeks in the room later expressed their deep appreciation for the non-Greeks to be there, to witness the injustice, to witness their pain, and that they could begin to heal because we witnessed them.

These two experiences allowed me to realize the power of witnessing. It has potential to heal. All we want as humans is to be seen and heard. For all of the injustices and challenges that people experience on a daily in our world, the least we can do is spend 4 minutes witnessing someone, on any given day, at any given moment in their life journeys and tell them "you're magnificent".Whether you have been married for 50 years or just met 2 minutes ago, I believe there will be benefits. And whether you have been invisible your whole life, or feel unworthy or you feel confident and radiant, you are magnificent, on this day, in every moment, no matter how you feel. The fact that you are alive and reading this right now is magic at play.

I was also really inspired by this video that Amnesty Poland did on the topic of migration and refugees.

So my wish is for #barewitness to expand globally. For people around the world to experiment and try out the 4 minute session of looking into another person's eyes. To do it with strangers and loved ones alike.

​Will our prejudices, judgments and stereotypes crumble if we can bare witness across social boundaries and categories?